Around the NFL: How did 2001 draftees pan out?

Every general manager dreams of fixing a position for 10 years when he makes a first-round draft pick. In a 31-player salute to the first-round draft class of 2001, though, the evidence indicates there are a lot more Gerard Warrens than Steve Hutchinsons awaiting the GMs about to plunge into the 2010 draft.

It’s always good for a laugh when a draft analyst says, “This guy could be the solution for 10 years.”

Steady. Consistent. Durable.

Funny. Football doesn’t do Cal Ripken. Often enough these days, it defies one more key word: Retainable.

Sure, there’s an occasional Brett Favre. Or a Peyton Manning.

But 10-year men? Even the ones who make it that far tend to encounter speed bumps built like brick walls.

As we contemplate the list of potential 10-year men in the 2010 draft, let us revisit the first-round draft class of 2001.

Several teams got lucky and drafted a 10-year man. As you step through the list, though, you might sprain an ankle stepping along a road filled with peril.

The 2010 first round:

No. 1 overall, QB Michael Vick, Eagles. At a recent North Canton Hoover High School basketball game against the McKinley Bulldogs, a kid in the Hoover student section waved a picture of Vick at the Bulldog players. Whether they thought it was funny or stupid, most people understood the joke.

No. 2, OL Leonard Davis, Cardinals. A rare bird, this 353-pound man mountain has missed just five starts in nine years.

No. 3, DT Gerard Warren, Browns. “Big Money” is remembered in Cleveland for uninspired play and filling the locker room with lyrics that played to mixed reviews, including, “Kill the head, body’s dead.” The Raiders cut him recently.

No. 4, DE Justin Smith, Bengals. Along the lines of Davis, he hasn’t missed a start in the last eight years.

No. 5, RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers. Before jumping to the Jets, he posted career lows for rushing yards and yards per carry with the 2009 Chargers.

No. 6, DL Richard Seymour, Patriots. He lost games to injuries, including half of the 2007 season, in six of his eight years with New England.

No. 7, DE Andre Carter, 49ers. Lost most of 2004 to injuries, then fell out of favor in San Francisco, but has enjoyed a pass-rushing rebirth with the Redskins.

No. 8, WR David Terrell, Bears. Cut by Chicago after 128 receptions in four seasons, he never caught another ball.

No. 9, WR Koren Robinson, Seahawks. Mike Holmgren drafted him, watched him rise and fall, and gave him his last chance in 2008. He averaged 20 catches in his final five seasons.

No. 10, DE Jamal Reynolds, Packers. Injuries ganged up on him in Green Bay. By 2004, he was in and out of the Browns’ camp ... then gone for good.

No. 11, LB Dan Morgan, Panthers. Sixteen games was this Miami Hurricane’s impossible dream. He played in 11, 8, 11, 12, 13, 1 and 3 games in his seven Carolina seasons before hanging ‘em up.

No. 12, DT Damione Lewis, Rams. In his odd career, Morgan’s former Miami teammate was never a full-time starter until 2008 with Carolina. The Panthers released him this month.

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No. 13, DT Marcus Stroud, Jaguars. He has lost time to injuries in three of his last four seasons, but he’s still a starter, now for Buffalo.

No. 14, OT Kenyatta Walker, Buccaneers. He started in a Super Bowl but never lived up to expectations. By 2007, he was on the Toronto Argonauts’ practice squad.

No. 15, WR Rod Gardner, Redskins. He bounced from Washington to Carolina to Green Bay to Kansas City from 2004-06 before running out of chances.

No. 16, WR Santana Moss, Jets. He has averaged nearly 1,000 receiving yards during the last seven years and caught 70 balls for the 2009 Redskins.

No. 17, G Steve Hutchinson, Seahawks. Give Holmgren credit for making the pick of the year. Hutchinson, now with the Vikings, has started 16 games eight times while blasting his way to Canton.

No. 18, OT Jeff Backus, Lions. He’ll be a 10-year man — he started from Day 1 and has never missed a game — but the poor guy was with the NFL’s worst team of the decade that just ended.

No. 19, DT Casey Hampton, Steelers. He has been to Pro Bowls, but also he lost most of one season to injury, and has made it through a full season just twice in the last six years.

No. 20, DB Adam Archuleta, Rams. It was all good in 2006, when Washington owner Daniel Snyder signed him to history’s richest contract for a safety. His career crashed, and by 2008, he was cut by the Raiders.

No. 21, CB Nate Clements, Bills. Along the Archuleta lines, he was good for his first team, but not as good after becoming a rich free agent. He spent most of 2009 on the 49ers injured reserve list.

No. 22, CB Will Allen, Giants. Like Clements, he spent most of 2009 on I.R., with his second team, the Dolphins. Last month, he was arrested for driving under the influence in his Ferrari.

No. 23, RB Deuce McAllister, Saints. A third-year sensation (1,641 yards in 2003), he lost 30 games to injuries in his next five seasons and was out of the NFL a season before the Saints won a Super Bowl.

No. 24, DB Willie Middlebrooks, Broncos. After starting two games in four years with Denver, he landed briefly in San Francisco in 2005, then was gone.

No. 25, WR Freddie Mitchell, Eagles. He mouthed off before a Super Bowl, prompting Bill Belichick to say, “All he does is talk. He’s terrible, and you can print that.” Mitchell lasted four years with the Eagles. No one else wanted him.

No. 26, DB Jamar Fletcher, Dolphins. He won the Jim Thorpe Award at Wisconsin, but won’t be joining Thorpe in Canton (12 starts in eight years, out of the league in 2009).

No. 27, Michael Bennett, Vikings. His 1,296-yard 2002 was a false alarm. With the Chiefs, Bucs and Chargers in the last three years, he has run for a combined 518 yards.

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No. 28, DB Derrick Gibson, Raiders. He lost his starting job after three seasons and last played in the NFL in 2006.

No. 29, DE Ryan Pickett, Rams. The Rams and Packers have gotten nine strong years out of the former Ohio State Buckeye. Green used the franchise tag on him just last month.

No. 30, WR Reggie Wayne, Colts. Was his success a Peyton Manning thing? Nearly 10,000 receiving yards later, no one is saying drafting him wasn’t a good thing.

No. 31, TE Todd Heap, Ravens. His mother’s cousin is former Cowboys quarterback Danny White. They’re all very proud, as Heap is still going in a fine career.

So there you have it. A full round of history for current GMs to worry about. In 2001, there were only 31 teams. The first pick of the 2001 second round, No. 32 overall, was Drew Brees.

He should have been the first pick of the first round. Drafts can be funny that way.

Some Browns fans wish the Browns would have waited it out and swung a deal for Donovan McNabb, rather than pouncing on Jake Delhomme.

There’s a colossal difference in the two veterans, one argument goes. McNabb is a better player at this point, no doubt. The successes of their two teams, though, weren’t much different in recent years.

Delhomme’s Panthers from 2003-08: 11-5, 7-9, 11-5, 8-8, 7-9, 12-4.

McNabb’s Eagles from 2003-08: 12-4, 13-3, 6-10, 10-6, 8-8, 9-6-1.

Delhomme’s team in the postseason in that span: One Super Bowl loss, one loss in an NFC title game, 5-3 overall.

McNabb’s team in the postseason in that span: Loss (to Delhomme) in an NFC title game, loss in a Super Bowl the following year, loss in 2008 NFC title game, 6-4 overall.

Delhomme cost the Browns mere dollars, as opposed to high draft picks, the price for McNabb. It’s a safe bet Mike Holmgren will have a young QB he likes as a starter within a few years, and Delhomme fits that equation better than McNabb.

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Braylon Edwards was made for the Spotlight of Hard Knocks. At least, I think he thinks he was. Edwards and the Jets will be this year’s featured team on the entertaining HBO series.

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“Show me the money” is the law of the land in the draft. Twelve of Scout Inc.’s top 20 draft prospects opted not to use a final year of campus eligibility because they smelled the cash.